


Freefall

by Castryn



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Gender-Neutral Hange Zoë, Hange Zoë & Levi Are Best Friends, Hange Zoë Being Hange Zoë, Head Injury, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Hurt/Comfort, Injured Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Levi-centric (Shingeki no Kyojin), Other, Protective Hange Zoë, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:34:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29485317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Castryn/pseuds/Castryn
Summary: "Oi! What do you want? And why're you being so damn loud about it?!" Levi snapped as this brunette scout just grinned back at him and had the audacity to throw their head back and fucking laugh at him! As of they weren't the one acting like an absolute lunatic!However the comforting smile he was graced with next and the endearing look in their visible honey-colored eye, was enough to make his heart plummet and body tense as he realized with horror: he was supposed to know this person!As he wracked his mind for answers, the only thing his foggy brain managed to supply was 'Amnesia' as between the throbbing in his head and the sudden memory loss it made the most logical sense.
Relationships: Levi & Hange Zoë, Levi/Hange Zoë
Kudos: 54





	1. Free Fall into Nothing

Levi groaned and leaned heavily against the tree whose branch he was perched on, clutching the back of his head and trying to blink away the sudden blurriness and flashing lights impeding his vision. His brain was moving sluggishly and, try as he might, there was still no memory leading up to this moment and how he got here, aside from the understanding that he was outside of the walls on an expedition with the scout regiment.

"Yoo! _Leviii~_!" he openly groaned as the overtly excited pitch served to rattle his headache; with an irate 'tsk' he turned to the offender. A young scout, about his age though taller than him (much to his chagrin) stood on a branch across from him in the same scout uniform he wore, though their's was covered in dirt and stains and the owner didn't appear the least bit apologetic for it; rather, their greasy tangled birdnest that might have once been 'hair' was haphazardly pulled into a disheveled updo and their googles were covered in smudges and splattered mud and blood - one of the lenses was cracked.

" **Oi**! What do you want? And why're you being so damn _loud_ about it?!" This brunette scout just grinned back at him and even had the _audacity_ to throw their head back and **fucking** laugh at him! As if they weren't the one acting like an absolute lunatic!

However the comforting smile he was graced with next and the endearing look in their visible honey brown eye, was enough to make his heart plummet and body tense as he realized with a sudden horror: he was supposed to know this person!

As he wracked his brain for answers that only thing his foggy brain managed to supply was 'Amnesia' as between the throbbing in his head and the sudden memory loss it made the most logical sense.

"Seriosuly tho, Levi; what the hell are you just standing around for? I love extra titan observation time as much as the next guy, but you're usually one of first to start pulling back once the retreat flare goes up, yeh, Shortstuff?" and sure enough, this personified messy disaster was right; faint lines of blue smoke could still be seen fading in the distance.

"R...right. Sorry, Squad Leader Hange" (thank the walls for rank indicators they wore right now) "I'll be withdrawing now" he stammered, figuring it was best to try and figure what was wrong with himself once they were back safely within the walls. "and don't call me 'shortstuff'- I thought fellow officers were supposed to be respectful"

The taller scout frowned and made an confused humming before they mumbled "'Squad leader Hange?' This a new way of mocking me, Levi? Who pissed in your tea this morning?" before taking off back towards what Levi hoped was the rest of the formation as he readied his gear to follow suit.

The raven-haired captain aimed for a nearby tree and shot his grappling hooks into the thicker part of larger branch, and swung forward... only to realize his mistake too late; the moment his feet left the tree and the swinging mmomentum hit him, the already painful headache he'd had before suddenly erupted into a full on migraine as a tidal wave of pain swept over him, causing his vision to blur and a wave of nausea to take over his senses. Levi missed his cue to disconnect and repel his hooks again and yelled out as he was yanked back, the belts biting into his skin painfully; the young oofficer felt one of the support chords yank out of the tree and clung to the remaining one for dear life.

"Levi! What the **hell** are you _doing_?!" the previously sing-song voice now snapped, a tense waver that wasnt there before and as Levi looked up, he watched them redirected their own gear and land on a branch in front of him "Quit messing around you clean freak! Y _ou're scaring me!!_ "

Levi opened his mouth to respond and instead gave a pathetic incoherent mumble, trying to swing up onto the branch he was dangling from. A chill ran down his spine as he felt the remaining hook dislodge itself from the tree, and he gasped as he felt himself suddenly go freefalling. Gritting his teeth, he shoot a chord at a nearby tree, and missing by a mile. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited dreadfully for the painful (and possibly deadly) impact with the ground below... but it never came as he felt himself collide with a warm body.

As he tried to squint through his quickly darkening vision, Levi saw the taller mess of a scout holding him up. Levi tried to thank them, but only managed another mumble as he finally blacked out, giving in to the peaceful bliss of unconsciousness, the last thing registering was the frantic pleading voice from his companion saying ' _ **Levi**! By the walls, **you're bleeding!** What heppened?! Stay with me! Levi, **stay!** P-please...!' _and what he thought might have been a broken sob.


	2. Hit With Reality

Levi groaned as he slowly came to his senses, his head throbbed and scrambled images from his dreams still lingered in his mind. No...not dreams, atleast not _just_ dreams; he was certain they were the scattered pieces of his memories.

He recalled visions of his mother and how she had slowly wasted away in front him, leaving him alone and begging for death. He remembered Kenny showing up in the dead of night, taking in a starving Levi under his wing, teaching him how to survive - to kill, and then disappearing almost as abruptly as he'd appeared, once again leaving Levi all alone. However, this time Levi had developed the resolve he needed to survive and fight back against bullshit of a life he'd been given to try and turn it into something worth living for.

Vauge images of Farlan and Isabel flitted throughout these images as well; the two smiling as they soared through the air on stolen 3DM gear beside him, the three of them taking down even the highest members of the incompetent MP's those bastard merchants sent after them, and a subconscious deep-seated pain and mourning in his heart that foretold a disastrous end to their story.

Despite it all, the most prevalent images were those of the messy-haired brunette who'd caught him earlier. Levi couldn't bring their name to mind, yet he just knew they meant something important, but _what_? The harder he tried to force the memories into focus, the more it made his head throb painfully, so with a reluctant sigh let it go and finally opened his eyes.

An endless azure blue sky stretched out above him, delicately painted with swirling puffs of white clouds, and dotted with the occasional passing bird. A soft breeze brushed by and ruffled his bangs against his forehead in an almost soothing manner; he took in a deep breath, relishing in the fresh and almost sweet scent in the air, such a stark difference to the stale mildewy stench the permeated the underground. Despite his current state of confusion, Levi took some small degree of comfort in the reminder that his escape from the underground city wasn't just a dream, and that the sky and air were as breathtaking as he'd hoped they'd be.

Caught up in his thoughts and distracted by the scenery, the usually attentive Captain failed to notice the approaching blonde headed man until he was leaning over him, stern blue eyes staring intently at him. Levi gave a start as images of those eyes danced across him mind, many with him pinned down and a knife at his throat. His instincts kicked in and Levi flinched back instantly, hand reflexively going for the dagger he kept on his right hip... only to notice with disgruntled shock it was no longer there, replaced instead with harness straps and small med pack; he huffed an annoyed tisk at this discovery.

"Easy Levi, you're safe. Calm down." The man's voice was deep and steadfast, the kind that invoked discipline and respect; but it was familiar too, and his eyes betrayed a sense of relief. "Medic said you hit your head rather badly out there; you'll likely have some headaches for awhile and may be disoriented for a time. Do you remember what happened?"

Levi shook his head, giving an annoyed grunt when the movement left him feeling dizzy. "No, I don't." he managed once his head cleared. "All I remember is the section leader showing up and me failing to use my gear and passing out; I'm pretty sure they must have caught me or I'd probably have a few more injuries" he took note of the frown and eyebrow raise he got at the mention of the fellow scout's rank.

"You sure gave Hange a scare when you dropped like that."

"Who?"

The effect was immediate; both of the man's obnoxiously large eyebrows shot up towards his hairline as his eyes widened and his lips parted in a slight gasp; he seemed to completely freeze for a few moments before finally regaining his composure. "Levi, I need you to answer me honestly: do you know who I am?" those piercing blue eyes bore into him with a strange intensity behind them.

"The commander of the Scout Regiment?"

"What is my name?"

"I..." he let out a frustrated _tsk_. "I don't remember. A lot of my memories are all jumbled to shit right now."

"That's... that's okay. The medic said that memory issues could be a side effect of the injury, it should hopefully clear up soon."

Levi made another annoyed grunt before turning his head to stare back at the sky. "Mind telling me where I am?"

"Outside of Wall Sina, on the outskirts of the larger pine forest. This is the 46th expedition for the Scout Regiment; your squad was in charge of clearing up an area to attempt to test a new titan capturing trap designed by Hange"

"My squad?" he felt his heart leap into his throat; he had thought he was alone out there. Were there other's dead now because of his actions?

"Yes, but they're safe. When Hange got you they informed your squad of the situation and had them join up with the rear forces. All of them are unharmed."

He felt the sudden tightness in his chest relax and absently nodded. Suddenly a voice Levi didn't recognize called out. "Erwin, the last stragglers have arrived, we're ready to depart at your command" the blonde nodded, gave Levi a quick pat on the shoulder, and turned away. Moments later the cart beneath him began rattling as it made it's way back towards the walls and Levi frowned, debating what his sudden memory loss meant for him and his future. Would he still be allowed on missions? In the scouts at all? Would they try to send him back to the underground? **No** ; no matter what he wouldn't let that happen. He'd faught too hard and lost too much to go back to that hell hole without a fight. His thoughts were interrupted by Hange.

"Hey shorty; good to see you awake. How're you feeling?" a wide smile made their chestnut eyes sparkle in the most captivating way.

"Like I fell off a roof" this earned him a giggle.

"Well, you almost did... sorta. You fell off a tree taller than most of the building in Wall Rose"

"Yeah but you caught me... I think? Guess I owe you some gratitude for that, so thanks; I'll try not to let it happen again"

"The hell? Earlier you actually _apologized_ and used my official rank and now you're _thanking_ **_me_**?! What gives?" he expected it to be a joke but when he turned and saw the serious expression turned on him, he realized he really had no idea how their usual interactions went.

"Sorry; I know this is gonna feel like shit, but apparently when I hit my head earlier it must have knocked some things loose. I hate to say it but I don't actually remember who you are. I know we're supposed to know eachother but I can't recall anything specific" He watched as the glitter in their eyes faded, the smile turning into a frown; they let out a humorless chuckle.

"Don't be a jackass and joke about stuff like that

"I wish it were a joke. I have no fucking clue what's going on; the commander said we're on some expedition outside the walls but that's it. I can't even remember what happened to my damn friends but I know it's fucking terrible"

"Friends? Levi I saved your squad. They're okay, they're with-"

"Not them!" he snapped with irritation. "Isabel and Farlan!"

"Who? No, _wait_! Those names sound familiar... gimme a second, it's been a minute since I've heard them" nutmeg eyes slid shut and their hand raised to top a finger against their chin; after a few moments they gasped as their face lit up and eyes flew open. " _Oh_! Wait, weren't those the names of your friends who joined the scouts with you?" He just gave them an inpatient glare. "Oh...right... missing memories, duh. Farlan was tall-ish guy with light brown hair and Isabel was a short girl with bright red hair, **really** good with animals" "

Yes, exactly. So you know them? They made it out with me?"

"You all joined the scouts together at the same time!" Hange agreed with a grin, but then their face fell and Levi could tell what was coming. "Oh... oh shit; I'm so sorry Levi - they died a few years ago during the 23rd expedition. The weather took a really bad turn and we lost a lot of great scouts that day."

Levi turned he face back to the sky, glaring and willing back the tears as he felt the pain seeping into his very soul. He gasped as his skull suddenly throbbed and he curled on his side, clutching his head in his hands; images is his dead friends filtered through his mind and he had to bite back a sob and the grief washed over him. He vaguely heard someone shout his name before he felt the cart suddenly dip and a hand found it's way onto his shoulder, gripping tightly; a familiar scent of leather, herbs, and something earthy filled his nostrils and he reached out to grip the wrist that belonged to this small shred of normalcy amongst the chaos that had quickly taken over him.

"It's okay Levi, it'll be okay." Hange again; maybe the two were closer than he'd originally thought. "I'm so sorry you're going through this, but I swear we'll fix it; **I'll** fix it, alright?" he managed a noncommittal grunt but gently squeezed the wrist in his hand.


End file.
